Most modern operating systems provide a rich graphical user interface (GUI) as the primary means of interacting between a user and the applications and resources of the system. GUIs, while useful to most people, impose a significant challenge to those with disabilities such as blindness, visual impairment, and gross or fine motor challenges.
An individual with a physical or visual impairment or similar disability may install and utilize accessibility software on their personal computer. Accessibility software may provide a set of tools to assist a physically or visually impaired user. The set of tools includes a screen reader that reads the text being displayed on the screen, and a navigation tool to allow a user to navigate the operating system GUI using only the keyboard, or in some cases by adapting a pointing device (e.g., mouse) input.
Typically, the screen readers, such as JAWS™ and Window Eyes™ may operate on Windows™ environment. The screen reader Voice Over™ produced by Apple Inc., located in Cupertino, Calif. may be used for Macintosh™ environment. The screen reader may identify and interpret what is being displayed on the screen. This interpretation may be represented to the user with text-to-speech, sound icons, or a Braille output.
The accessibility software for impaired users may work with external hardware devices to allow output to be streamed to a refreshable Braille display. The Braille display typically is a device that allows a blind person read the contents of a display one text line at a time in the form of Braille characters, each displayed in a Braille cell. Typically, a Braille cell has six or eight movable pins in a rectangular array. The pins can rise and fall depending on the electrical signal they receive. There are usually 20, 40, 65, or 80 arrays per line of text, depending on the device. The screen reader may gather the content of the screen and send it to the Braille display.
As the amount of graphics content on the screen increases, it becomes more difficult for the screen reader to interpret and describe graphical information to send it to the Braille display. That impacts the ability of the user to effectively interact with the computer system.
Additionally, existing accessibility software may conflict with other applications or be unable to properly describe these applications unless the applications are specifically designed to be used with a particular accessibility application that hinders the ability of the impaired user to operate an application or navigate the screen.
Currently, to operate a Braille device with a computer, a user may need to purchase, install, and configure an accessibility software that operates on this computer. After installing the accessibility software, the user may need to configure the Braille device with this computer by, for example, setting up a utility application. These actions needed to be performed by the user to operate the Braille device not only consume time, but also impact ability of the user with impaired vision to access a computer in a public place; e.g., a library or a school.